The Holy Innocents (Matthew 2:16-18)

St Matthew’s gospel tells us that in their search for the newborn king of the Jews, the Wise Men first went to Jerusalem to see King Herod, the ruler of Judaea. Herod felt very threatened by this, since the child was not his. He was afraid that this mysterious new king would try to seize his throne.

So he consulted his advisors, who told him that the visitors were actually looking for the Messiah, who was prophesied to be born in Bethlehem. Herod then directed the Wise Men to go there and asked them to report back to him about the child. He pretended that this was so that he too could pay his respects, but he was secretly planning to kill the newborn boy.

He waited some time for the Wise Men to return, but God had warned them in a dream not to go back to Jerusalem. This made Herod very angry. He then sent soldiers to Bethlehem to kill all of the baby boys under the age of two. He hoped that Christ would be among them, but the Holy Family had already escaped to Egypt.

The gospel does not say exactly how many baby boys lost their lives in the massacre. However, because they were killed for the sake of the Christ Child, they have traditionally been viewed as martyrs. They are known as the ‘Holy Innocents’ and their feast is kept on the 28th December, three days after Christmas.

Preaching on this story, Pope Francis remarked: “Christmas is also accompanied, whether we like it or not, by tears. The Evangelists did not disguise reality to make it more credible or attractive. They did not indulge in words that were comforting but unrelated to reality. For them, Christmas was not a flight to fantasy, a way of hiding from the challenges and injustices of their day. On the contrary, they relate the birth of the Son of God as an event fraught with tragedy and grief.”

He went on: “Quoting the prophet Jeremiah, Matthew presents it in the bluntest of terms: “A voice is heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children” (2:18). It is the sobbing of mothers bewailing the death of their children in the face of Herod’s tyranny and unbridled thirst for power.”

The pope then observed: “Today too, we hear this heart-rending cry of pain, which we neither desire nor are able to ignore or to silence. In our world – I write this with a heavy heart – we continue to hear the lamentation of so many mothers, of so many families, for the death of their children, their innocent children.”

This stained glass window of the massacre of the Holy Innocents is found within the Cathedral of St Peter, in Lancaster, at the entrance of the baptistery. It dates to 1901 and is by the local firm, Shrigley & Hunt. The scene pictures King Herod crushing a baby underfoot. This rather shocking image is contrasted with a scene of Christ blessing a child.

Herod is seen unsheathing his sword, as a symbol of his murderous rage. The Latin phrase in the window is from Matthew 2:16 and means ‘Herod was angry and killed all the boys’. Notice how a serpent is coiled in the tree behind him, which symbolises the Devil in Eden, luring him into sin. The serpent symbol is also found around his initial letters in the border of the window.

The unusual detail of the fox in the window is particularly interesting. Herod the Great’s son, Herod Antipas, inherited his throne after his death. Christ referred to Herod Antipas as a “fox”, due to his sly ways (Luke 13:32). This may mean that the artist got the two kings mixed up. Alternatively, the animal may symbolise Herod’s own son, who lived while the Holy Innocents died.

See the full image:

Detail of the baby underfoot:

Detail of the fox:

Both panes of the window:

Where to find this work of art
Cathedral of St Peter, Lancaster

Read the relevant passage
Matthew 2:16-18

On a similar theme

• From the Old Testament: King Manasseh of Judah was also responsible for a massacre of innocent children, although unlike Herod, he repented of his crimes.
• From the New Testament: Upon learning of the planned massacre, the Holy Family fled into Egypt.